Tony Pua: Najib continues to make a fool of himself in Parliament by trying to shift 1MDB blame to subsequent ruling govts
Datuk Seri Najib Razak is only continuing to make a fool of himself by pleading his 1MDB case in Parliament and trying to shift the blame to the subsequent governments, said Damansara MP Tony Pua.
(MMO) – The DAP National Publicity Secretary said that his latest show came just yesterday (March 3), when Najib questioned why his successors did not pay off 1MDB’s bonds ahead of the maturity date to save on interest costs.
He claimed that the government could have used the funds recovered from Goldman Sachs, the US Department of Justice, Ambank, KPMG and Deloitte to pay 1MDB bonds.
“Najib thinks that redeeming bonds traded in the bond market is like paying off his housing loan with a bank. Except it isn’t, and that’s why it’s called a bond, and not a bank loan.
“If Najib had kept his mouth shut and sought advice first from his former bankers in Goldman Sachs, they would have schooled him that it is not normal for bonds to be redeemed early because it tends to be very costly to do so,” said Pua in a statement today.
Pua added that the likelihood of the government saving interest charges via early redemption is unlikely as if the government attempted to acquire or redeem the entire bond issuance, the premium to be paid will shoot up further.
